I sincerely thank fanfic (and more so a faery who lead me here like the prince of egypt) for this enlightenment. This fic my homage to the very, very, VERY good authors I have read and reread at fanfic-you know who you are-May god bless you.
Oh! And this is so
totally dedicated to my best friend, happy birthday chrys! After you
got me to fanfic, my net bill's never been the same….
PS: I plead you to
criticise freely, I'll hate you but I need to improve ASAP so that
I can work better on an awesome fic-right-now-in-progress.….
Apologies if it is too painful to read :winces and fingers crossed: I'll shut up and let you read now!
DISCLAIMER: Neither is Harry Potter mine, nor his band of merry men. Slytherins however smirking :receives evil look from Ms. Rowling: smirk vanishes > ARE NOT EITHER. :die disclaimer DIE:
Prologue
Last Day, Sixth Year
'Oh stuff it Malfoy' snarled Blaise Zabini, looking stunning yet very, very dangerous as he glared at his roommate.
Theodore Nott scrambled to escape the room as Draco's smirk got wider and begged to be removed from his impossibly handsome face.
Draco complied by drawling, 'What? You'll send mummy dear and get her to marry me?'
Blaise's purple eyes narrowed.
When they were alone again, Draco resumed his expression prior to Nott's arrival.
'Yeah, so did you read that muggle comic I gave you?' he asked his purple eyed friend.
Blaise too resumed his earlier earnest expression. 'Oh yeah! Thanks a ton for that mate!' Draco chuckled at the use of the word "ton."
Blaise continued, 'That Betty chick is so for me. Ronnie is totally you;' he paused as Daphne Greengrass entered the room looking for Theo, and his voice rose 'you swarmy git. Your bloody hair is as repulsive as your lusty one-liners.' Daphne exited the room quickly on hearing the beginning of another brawl.
Blaise then went back to packing his trunk and simultaneously extracted Draco's muggle comic from a secret compartment. He tossed it to Draco, who silently and effortlessly caught it. As Draco put it away he asked Blaise, 'Don't you think Weatherbee resembles Professor Dumbledore?'
Blaise guffawed and then went silent as Millicent Bulstrode entered the room. She left on seeing Draco's murderous gaze, thinking it was meant for Blaise.
'Oi Daph!' she called out downstairs; Blaise and Draco exchanged quick, puzzled looks. 'They haven't killed each other yet. Don't get me excited for nothing' she continued grumbling as she went down the stairs noisily.
The two were silent and then resumed packing to return home. Draco spoke softly, his head bent over his trunk; and only Blaise could detect the well-concealed anguish in his best mate's voice.
'What's with this effing charade Blaise?'
'Charade?' Blaise looked up and smiled ruefully. 'You mean when we diss muggles and don't want to, pretend to detest Professor Dumbledore, worship Snape when we don't want to, insult Griffindors when it's uncalled for…'
Draco looked up and interrupted, 'Okay, the griffindorks I enjoy tormenting.'
Blaise grinned 'Yeah me too.'
Draco's smile faded. 'Why can't it just be that easy? I never believed it. Neither did you. And every time I want to talk about anything muggle or whatever, it gets me crucio'd at the manor.'
'Don't worry mate, I won't rat on to Lucius.' Blaise now grinned lazily, 'Plus, you're a very convincing bastard here.'
'I learnt from the best' Draco smirked.
'Look. When Malfoy Sr. is avada'd by Potter at the final battle,' Blaise started while Draco tossed over his dress shirt to fold 'you can fill the library with all the Archie's you want. Though it hardly counts as literature.'
'Hey!' protested Draco; 'Ronnie's hot.'
'And Archie is such a loser' Blaise laughed suddenly, 'Reminds me of Ron Weasley.'
Even Draco chuckled. 'You know,' he continued smirking, though without his usual ruthlessness, 'the know-it-all Betty is rather like Granger. Just a coincidence that you prefer the smart ones?'
The smile on Blaise's face vanished at the mention of Hermione. 'Gentlemen prefer blondes' he replied sharply.
Draco regarded the young wizard. Blaise was brilliant looking. He was as tall as Draco and had curly raven locks that reached his collar. Blaise's face wore a blank expression to the outside world but around Draco, was always grinning maniacally, his eyes alight with roguishness.
'You look okay, do you know that?' asked Draco.
Blaise was caught off-guard. 'Is this revenge for the "I love you" incident when we got plastered at Hogsmeade?'
Draco laughed, his silver eyes sparkling, and his face illuminated.
'No mate. I just think Hermione will fall for you instantly. She probably has 'cause you've never bothered her or her poncy griffy bodyguards.'
'That's not why she should like me' Blaise said, his voice barely audible. Draco was surprised that Blaise had yielded so easily to his razzing. Blaise's eyes were a softer lilac now. He looked defeated.
Draco realised that the usually composed, impish Blaise was now worried about his chances of getting Granger to like him.
'Well, you are ruddy smart. You can fold my trousers.' Draco pointed out and succeeded in getting Blaise to laugh. 'You could beat her at Arithmancy but you'd rather let her feel good about herself.' Blaise was about to protest. 'You can cook bloody amazing Italian food and you dance.' Blaise mouthed "that's nothing" 'and that's something her griffy goons can't help her with.' Draco finished,
Blaise's eyes turned a merry purple as he remembered the last time he saw Potter and Weasley dance. 'They were a bloody disaster' he chuckled.
Draco was about to continue but Blaise got Draco's folded laundry over and snapped Draco's trunk close. Blaise then said abruptly, 'But see Malfoy, you can cook and dance too. You're bloody fantastic at Quidditch and you had let Potter get the snitch on purpose once because and I quote, "Potter's had enough shit, let him get happy. He'll probably get laid this way"'
Draco wondered where this was heading. 'You look fantastic too' assured Blaise, 'But not as good as me' he added coughing. 'You are smart. You can't fold clothes, but you can get me to do it for you.'
'Zabini, for the last time; stop hitting on me.'
'As much as I'd love to have you blondie, you are too thoroughly besotted with a Griffy readhead to give a shit.'
Now Draco's smirk vanished. Blaise smirked smugly. Though Blaise was the only person Draco had ever been close enough to get plastered with and, shared his true nature (and stash of muggle fiction), Draco would never admit to Blaise about his attraction to Ginevra Weasley.
How did you bloody guess? He thought sourly, his eyes conveying no emotion. Draco had learnt the art from his father and like all things he attempted, mastered it.
And Draco would be damned if he let Zabini get the satisfaction of knowing he was right about Ginny.
'I'm right about Ginny Weasley and you know it Malfoy' smirked an insolent Blaise Zabini.
'Oh stuff it Zabini' snarled Draco irritably.
-------------
a/n: i'm an author! oh, i ain't all hoighty toighty and hence will update with annoying regularity, like in another hour or so!
regards,
juliette ;>
